You may be as surprised as I was when I learned that the words spice and herb should not be used interchangeably. While I have been using the terms without thinking, after a little research, I did discover that there are differences. To further complicate matters, salt is used to flavor and add spice to food but is neither a spice or an herb. It is a mineral and called a condiment. So, to clear up the mystery I followed the scent. Herbs are obtained from the leaves of herbaceous (non-woody) plants. Examples are: in the photo above, Thyme, then Mint, Rosemary, Sage, Basil, Marjoram, Parsley, Chives, and Oregano. You may recall from an earlier post that I have been growing Parsley, Thyme, and Basil on my window sill. The Basil has been a real performer, but the other two are slower to mature. But, I will use them for something in my food.Spices on the other hand are obtained from roots, flowers, fruits, seeds, and bark. Examples are: Cumin (seed), Cinnamon (bark), Ginger (root), Nutmeg (seed), Vanilla (undeveloped fruit of an orchid), and Cloves, (flower bud). And, believe it or not, some plants are both an herb and a spice! Dill is a spice from the seed, and dill weed is an herb. So then, what is mustard? Well it is made from the mustard seed, but it is a condiment Sometime I like to clarify and confuse myself simultaneously. Its the spice of life...

This post about a patent is one of the most interesting that I have found as it has been controversial for such a long time. It is, of course, the Ouija Board. This device has been around from very early Chinese history and has undergone many iterations. The drawing shown is from a 1921 patent, 1,400,791 by Bigalow. There is an earlier patent from 1890 which appears to be the first U.S. patent. The device has had more words written about it than any other toy, paranormal, or entertainment instrument that I am aware of and the commentary continues. There are still people who believe that the board has "special" qualities, and there are as many people debunking the board as a game. My background in the sciences predisposes me to believe that it is the ideomotor effect that causes the planchette to spell out information. The answer is in the minds of the players and has no super-normal abilities. It is the same as suspending a ring on a string over the stomach of a pregnant woman. If the ring travels in a circle its a girl, and if the ring moves side to side its a boy, or whatever the current belief might be. My sense is that the person holding the string unconsciously has made a guess before the test has been accomplished. The act of dowsing has also been attributed to the ideomotor effect. As in any controversy, there will be support for any number of explanations, so feel free to disagree. Here is a link to the Wikipedia entry.